Covered boat dock stalls are needed to prevent damage to boats due to sun and rain exposure. Mold, fading and rot are the results from boats moored in open slips.
Covered slips are also detrimental due to added height that requires more support (either by piers or floats). Roofs of covered slips can collect heat and spread heat in the event of fire. Space below roofing provides an environment for birds and spiders and a collecting surface for dust and deterioration. Roofs are also generally not a pleasant atmosphere. The space below is dark and unfriendly. Lighting is usually required, and the metal roofs are unsightly.
A convertible feature for boat moorage has no precedent in the industry. This feature has been used and accepted in automobiles and boats, but the logistics of a static dock require a different approach than canopies for cars or boats. Forces acting on a dock structure are different from forces acting on moving objects. Docks are stationary and static while boats are moving, and horizontal forces are dynamic and direct. Sometimes wind forces are gusty, but the structure must remain somewhat rigid and static. A frame must be able to receive pressure from all directions, not just one from a moving direction.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 974,072; 3,195,549; 5,803,104; 5,839,462; 6,209,477; and 6,983,716 are examples of convertible canopies for water craft, the canopies generally but not exclusively comprising power operated or manual bimini tops. These disclosures fail to describe a system that would effectively extend and retract over a static dock and resist the multidirectional forces of variable strength that are encountered in such docks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,353 describes a boat shelter non-rigidly mounted to a dock. More specifically, a boat shelter dynamically mounted to the dock is described to permit the shelter to move relative to and independent of the dock to accommodate disparate forces experienced by the dock and the shelter. However, the described shelter is not convertible but instead remains in position over the slip at all times.
Therefore a need exists for an extensible and retractable boat slip cover that is rigidly mounted to a boat dock and resists forces from various directions and of variable strength.
A need further exists for such a boat slip cover having telescoping support members wherein water craft of various shapes and sizes may be accommodated beneath the cover.
A need further exists for a boat slip cover having a winch system to more effectively extend and retract the cover by hand.